


Through Rose-Tinted Lenses

by Rajani_the_Freak



Series: what makes a hero? AU [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Maribat - Fandom, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien fucked up, Bad coping mechanisms, He'll get better, Marinette 'not a doormat' Dupain-Cheng, hopefully, the batman fandom is only lightly mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:35:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27895417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rajani_the_Freak/pseuds/Rajani_the_Freak
Summary: Adrien found out who his Lady is and decides to confront her about why she took his miraculous. It does not go the way he thought he would
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Kagami Tsurugi (mentioned)
Series: what makes a hero? AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2034739
Comments: 16
Kudos: 290





	Through Rose-Tinted Lenses

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [the stars that shine above us all](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26176576) by [m3owww](https://archiveofourown.org/users/m3owww/pseuds/m3owww). 



> A direct continuation from 'The Only Thing Necessary'.

Everything in his life was going great. 

He got to go to school, he made plenty of friends there. And sure, there were akumas, but that was when he got to see his Lady so he couldn’t hate those moments. Then he decided to move on from loving Ladybug and began dating Kagami, but it was ok because his Lady would always be his best friend. And there was always the hope that, once things with hawkmoth were over and done with, she might change her mind after the reveal, but he tried not to think too much about it because, despite everything, he was really starting to like Kagami.

Sure, it wasn’t perfect. But it was several steps up from before. He even got to have more conversations with Marinette, having bonded over knowing Lila was lying.

The first sign that things were changing was when Marinette stopped so much as looking at him, let alone having a friendly talk.

He hadn’t noticed at first. She used to hold so little conversation with him before Lila came that he hadn’t noticed she went back to not talking to him. Then he noticed that he actually had to seek her out just to have a conversation. 

She was never rude about it and did talk whenever he reached for her, but that was it. She no longer tried to initiate a conversation, she no longer looked at him like he’d sometimes caught her doing… but worse of all was when he did talk to her. The warmth that naturally flowed around her whenever they talked, the reason that had him seeking her out so often, it was missing. It no longer was there.

That was when he noticed that the warmth that he liked so much was gone from even her interactions with their classmates. That didn’t bother him as much, though. He spent another month trying to talk to her and getting that warmth back but failing every single time.

He didn’t know what was wrong with her. He just wanted what they used to have back. But it seemed that, whatever she’d had, she’d lost it.

But then he realized it wasn’t her because he saw her talking to his girlfriend and the warmth was there. He realized that her problem was with her class, himself included.

He… didn’t like the implications of that so he chose to ignore it. And he stopped trying to talk to her after that. It was becoming pretty clear that she no longer regarded him as a friend.

Time went by. Things weren’t as great as before. 

He still missed Marinette, the one that looked at him and saw a friend. Marinette avoided most of the class and, whenever she didn’t, it was her trying to disprove Lila’s lies, which was a disappointment but, since they weren’t friends anymore, he didn’t feel as bothered about it.

Lila was now trying to interfere in his relationship with Kagami, but Kagami was a strong woman who wouldn’t be cowed by anyone and anything. She did refuse to take the high road, but that was the only thing he could point a finger at. He couldn’t feel disappointed in her. He loved her.

Ladybug… ever since she’d become the guardian, the light in her eyes had been steadily disappearing. She no longer bantered back. She constantly looked beyond tired. She was harsher during the fights. He could understand why. She had more responsibility heaped on her shoulder than ever. He couldn’t help but worry about her. But aside from that everything was fine… wasn’t it?

He was a bit disappointed when she tried telling Alya about Lila and couldn’t help but think that the bad reputation in his class was due pay for it.

Then, not long after, the final battle came. His father and Natalie were unmasked as the villains and Adrien’s world fell apart.

He’d been in shock. How he managed to end the battle and hand over his father to the authorities, he’ll never know. All he knew was that, after everything was over, he just sat down on a roof and stared at nothing. He didn’t even notice his timer running out. He wouldn’t have known exactly when his transformation had run out if not for hearing his Lady gasping and, even then, he didn’t look at her.

Then he felt a hand over his and his ring was removed. That was when he looked up at her in incomprehension. Why was she taking his ring? Had she told him something he just hadn’t heard it in his shock? What was happening?

He expression was a mix of sadness and hurt that he couldn’t understand as she dropped him off at his house and left with his ring.

He himself felt so hurt that the person he thought he could trust above all had abandoned him when he needed her most, taking the only other being that could have talked to him about what he was going through. He felt so betrayed. 

And he knew there was a reason. Her expression of hurt was directed at him. A part of him realized that he’d hurt her in some way or capacity, but not as his hero persona. No. he’d hurt her as Adrien. And he didn’t know how or why.

A few days after the trials he’d come to the conclusion that let him keep his sanity. That she’d been as petty as to take away his ring just because he was Hawkmoth’s son despite having proved to her that he was trustworthy in battle over and over again. It was that or get lost is a downwards spiral leading to madness as he tried to piece together why she didn’t trust him as Adrien. Who had he possibly hurt as Adrien that would justify the person he’d known as Ladybug to look at him the way she had?

It was easier to pretend that he’d been deceived to her true nature, and that she was as awful as Lila claimed, than to puzzle over the ‘why’ and ‘what’ and ‘how’ of the situation. And so that was what he did.

Soon he found himself joining the Ladybug bashing conversations with his classmates. He found himself nitpicking at small things that had bothered him about her. Things that hadn’t mattered. Still didn’t if he was being honest. But that because he was feeling so hurt, it felt good to pick at them as if they did.

He felt Marinette glance at him during class for a few days, after his return. He wondered if she was worried about him, but she didn’t approach and eventually went back to not staring at him again so he let it go.

A good thing that came out of the whole thing was that Lila didn’t have his father’s backing into forcing him to comply to her demands and that he could stay out longer. 

He sold his father’s company and kept the money to use later. He wanted nothing to do with his father or anything of his. He sold the mansion as well. Just to think that he’d kept his mother under the house along with his evil lair… At least she was on in the hospital, even if she was still in a coma. He and his body guard, who’d been named as his legal guardian by his father just in case he was caught, moved to a smaller house.

Things seemed to be getting back on track. They weren’t great. He still had to deal with a lot of backlash for having Hawkmoth for a father. Ladybug came out only one more time for a final interview and told everyone that he’d hadn’t known about his father and that when he found out, he’d helped her. She never told anyone in what capacity and he was thankful for that, even amidst his bitterness. So, things weren’t bad either.

Just before the year was over and his class graduated, they got to go on a school fieldtrip to Gotham. Truthfully, it was more like a mini-vacation after all of the harshness. He enjoyed himself plenty.

And then the Joker kidnapped them and took Lila with him. And this was the first time he realized: Ladybug isn’t here to fix this and he realized just how dangerous Lila’s little lie about the vigilantes had been. He’d be sure to discourage her from lying about heroes and supervillains in the future if they made it out of this alive.

Despite himself, he started cataloguing weak points that he could take the advantage of on the grunts that had been left to keep an eye on them. He wasn’t intending on actually doing anything, but after so long battling akumas, it became a habit. He was confused when they started donning gas masks and Alya started panicking badly about it.

He wondered what Alyan knew that scared her so much but before he could decide on an action, someone else did it for him.

Marinette.

He’d only seen her briefly as Multimouse. Briefly enough that he figured she was only a tiny bit less clumsy in the suit. Every other instance that he’d come across her as Chat Noir during an akuma attack only cemented what he’d seen of her as Adrien Agreste.

And yet.

She was fast. She was flexible. She didn’t have Kagami’s poise but was just as ruthless. She… looked eerily familiar.

For a moment he couldn’t move. He’d recognize those moves anywhere. He was sure of it. But… hadn’t he already gotten the evidence that Marinette was Multimouse, not Ladybug?

Regardless, just watching her fight took his breath away.

Then she got shot on the calf and Adrien snapped out of his daze, moving to help her. They made short work of the remaining thugs and Marinette lead them out of the building safely. But all he could see was Ladybug overlapping her figure. He didn’t know how, but he was sure. This was his Lady.

And he didn’t know how to feel about it.

He lost her in the crowd outside the building only to learn she’d gone back inside. He next saw her carrying a very dirty and bloody Lila fireman style outside of the building, both of them being taken to the hospital. 

Now this left him with a lot of time to think things through.

And that was exactly what he did. For once since he found out Hawkmoth was his father, he thought things through. 

The idea he’d come to associate with Ladybug since she’d taken his miraculous didn’t fit with Marinette. And this time he didn’t have the excuse of not knowing Marinette. He knew her. They might not have talked for a long time, but Kagami had and she’d confirmed that, aside from her attitude towards the class, she remained mostly the same.

Marinette fit with what he’d used to think his Lady could be like. He’d even suspected her of being her at one point or another.

There really just was one problem. What compelled her to turn on him the way she did? Looking back, he remembered that she’d looked hurt as she looked at him and now he knew in part why. Somehow, he’d hurt her as Marinette. Probably why she stopped going out of her way to talk to him. He just didn’t know why. And because he never tried to find out why she did so, perhaps she’d been scared or nervous over finding out her partner was him?

He really didn’t know what to think. It still didn’t explain everything. He certainly still didn’t know why she’d taken the ring or why she felt that _Adrien Agreste_ wasn’t worthy of a miraculous despite him having been Chat Noir up until then.

He held onto all of those questions as a small sense of hope started flourishing in his chest despite himself. Perhaps things could go back to what it was before? If they did then everything would be fine. He’d finally be able to put this whole thing behind him for good.

And so, with that resolution, he waited.

He didn’t manage to catch his Lady alone before they returned to Paris. Personally, he didn’t mind talking about the miraculous in public now that Hawkmoth was gone. But he couldn’t be sure his Lady would be fine with it. She’d always been the more cautious out of the two of them.

He bid his time after they returned until he finally found the perfect excuse to visit her. 

There was going to be an end of school party the following week and Marinette was a designer. While she hadn’t been making designs for the class lately, it was mostly because no one asked her. 

And he was known to be more lenient towards her in the class so no one would think it weird. It would be perfectly natural for him to try and talk to her and their miraculous secret would remain that way, a secret.

He walked towards Tom & Sabine’s bakery with purpose. The couple was surprised when he asked to speak to their daughter before giving him a weird expression and letting him go up to her room.

Of all the thing he’d expected to see in there after so long, it wasn’t seeing bare walls and very few knickknacks dotting the furniture. The room was still pink, but it looked more like Marinette couldn’t be bothered to paint it than anything else. Standing in the middle of the room was Marinette, stretching on the floor like a lazy cat and sketching something, probably a new design.

She looked calm, but he now knew her body language enough to realize she was alert.

“My Lady?” He called out.

“Adrien, are you confusing me with Kagami? Because, for all intents and purposes, she’s the only girl that should be called _yours_.” She commented calmly, not even looking up from the paper.

Was she purposefully trying to be obtuse?

“Mari. You’re Ladybug. You’re my Lady. I could recognize my Lady’s moves anywhere!” He tried being blunter.

She sighed in… resignation? Frustration? He wasn’t quite sure.

“I would think the wording still applies since Kagami’s still _your girlfriend_ , but I shouldn’t have expected better, I guess.” She got off the floor, sketchbook in tow and motioned him to make himself comfortable on her chaise long as she sat herself in an office chair. “So… What do you want?”

“My Lady… why?” He insisted, demanding his answers along with it.

There were to many questions starting with why. Detailing every single one of them would take time. But he knew she would understand it anyway even if ‘why?’ was all he said.

She pondered for a moment.

“Do you want the real answer to that, or do you just want the one that’ll make you feel better?” She asked, an undertone of bitterness present in her voice.

That shocked him enough that there was a long pause in the conversation before he got his bearings again.

“I just want to understand!” He shot out, determined.

He’d come her for answers after so long not being sure what to do. He _deserved_ them! Especially after the way she’d taken Plagg and never bothered to explain why!

“You sure?” She asked again, getting on his already frayed nerves.

“What’s so difficult to understand about my question?” He asked, feeling irritated.

“Well, then. You asked for it.” She said with an unconcerned expression. “Let’s start by the ‘why’ that must be concerning you most: Why did I take the miraculous?”

Adrien leaned forward, all his senses intent on her words.

“So, picture this. There I was, still reeling from finding out my favorite designer was the person that has been constantly hunting me down since I was thirteen. I’m also in shock because, after so many years of _suffering_ , I was finally free! It was one less secret I needed to keep! I didn’t need to keep my whole life on hold in Paris anymore because I needed to be here, always expecting to have to fight akumas! It was a relief!” An expression of longing flickered in her face for a moment. “But then there was my partner, in an even bigger state of shock than I was. And his timer was counting down. So, I left Hawkmoth to the proper authorities and took you some place secluded. I felt relieved that I could possibly be getting another friend in my civilian life and thought that your state of shock was due to sharing the same relief as me. But then you de-transformed and that put an end to my good mood!” She finished bitterly.

“What!?” He interjected at hearing the bitter tone of her voice directed at him.

“I could go on and on about how I couldn’t be sure of what would you do now that you knew your father was Hawkmoth. If you’d try to break the balance of the world now that you knew why he was doing it. I could say that I wasn’t sure if you’d use the miraculous to destroy your father instead in a fit of rage. I could say many more other perfectly justified considerations. And they all did pass through my mind at that moment. But neither of those perfectly rational explanations were why I ultimately decided to take it away from you.” She stated, her eyes silencing him with a steel cold gaze peering into his own. “Ultimately it came down to what you did as Adrien to me as Marinette. Or better yet, what you didn’t do. After I trusted your opinion on how to deal with Lila, I’d expected for you to keep your promise of being on my side. But you never were, were you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Lila continued attacking my reputation after the attempt on getting me expelled. And you did nothing as one by one my classmates came to stop hanging out with me and, then, started hating me. You never once defended me! Hell, I would have expected for you to at the very least put as much effort in defending me as you did in defending Chloé, like when she did all those awful things and you still showed distaste when we were celebrating her leaving! We are talking about a girl who had terrorized me most of my childhood at that point. The only reason I even started standing up to her was because of Alya. But you couldn’t even do that much!” She ranted, anger coloring her words. “What did I lack that you didn’t feel the need to stand up for me like you did them? Was it because I was just a humble baker’s daughter? Because the pattern of you defending only those who are both Rich and Bitch is showing all too clearly. First Chloé and then Lila. It makes one think. You can’t imagine the betrayal I felt when time went by and you never showed yourself to be willing to step up to your promise to me. All the while, Lila kept lying, and her lies were getting to the point they compromised the future of all of our classmates. And you, not only did you not stand by me, you also did nothing to counteract the negative effects on our classmates believing her! So, I couldn’t stay quiet anymore and you felt like you had all the right to be disappointed in me for that!

“But they were just harmless lies. They didn’t affect anything!” He defended himself, not seeing why the lies were such a big deal.

“Oh, they aren’t affecting anything, are they?” She stated in a quiet but dangerous tone. “I asked Nadja Chamack if Alya could ever be considered for any respectable position in a newspaper or TV news network. Because Alya puts so much stock on her blog, I can tell you her chances are so low they need to be measured in the atomic level. Most serious newscasters in France know her as a tabloid journalist who was _lucky_ she was as reckless as she was so that she was the only one getting livestream information about the akumas. They don’t hold her in any regard aside from that. And internationally? Because of the misinformation in the blog, most people think this was just an attempt at making an artsy superhero movie in the format of a blog, similar to the ‘Lizzie Bennet Diary’ series. No one even thinks it might be real because of all the bullshit in there that Lila spewed! What about your best friend Nino? He’s so intent on banking on Lila’s connections that he stopped participating in any movie competitions! All the experience that he could have gained, all the chances to impress the big wigs he could have gotten by producing more movies. All of that! Gone! Because he believed Lila. His is a competitive work environment. He could have gotten ahead of all the others by having that experience. Instead, he’s going to be lagging behind all the other kids that put in the effort and have a much better portfolio! Can you really not see the effects of Lila’s lies even after all of this? You could have encouraged Nino to still participate in the contests. He wouldn’t, and didn’t, believe in me when I told him to, but he would have trusted you if you told him that it would make his portfolio more interesting! And do you know why my word wasn’t enough for him?”

Adrien was starting to see what she was getting at, but was afraid to ask. He still did.

“Why?”

“Because Lila, somehow, convinced him that the only reason I kept telling him to participate in the contests was because I wanted him to credit me as being the person who was behind his success. And after all the lies Lila told on what an awful person I was, he believed her. But you, rich model boy who was his friend and well liked in the class and had no need of additional reputation by being linked to him? You, he would have listened to. Yet you did nothing more than smile and nod along like nothing was wrong!” Marinette nearly shouted at him. “And there you were now, the person who’d carved the knife deepest in my back, where my partner once stood. How could I trust you to do the right thing? Had it been almost any other person, I would have trusted what I know of my partner. Even if they were still the son of Hawkmoth, I would have trusted them just as much with the mask on as with it off. But you, I could not bring myself to trust, regardless of how much I trusted Chat Noir. It’s not the most politically correct reason, but it doesn’t make it any less valid and, above all, the _truth_. You literally backed me into a corner with your civilian self where the only way I could bring myself to move was to take the ring away out of self-preservation so that was what I did. Was it the right choice altogether? Perhaps not! I’m not blind to how it affected you, you know? I watched you after that. What I was looking for, I don’t know. Perhaps I just wanted a reason to believe I was wrong in taking it away!”

It was admittedly the first time he’d seen the situation in that angle, but that didn’t mean he was wrong. Alya could still become a serious journalist. There was surely a way! Even if the Ladyblog was a bust there had to be any other way to accomplish it. And, sure, Nino was lagging behind, but he could still get there with hard work. He didn’t know how Marinette had become so negative. But he would let her point stand for now because she reached another ‘why’ he wanted to ask.

“Why didn’t you come back for me, then? If you were watching, you must have seen how it all affected me!”

“I _did_ see. I saw you grieving all alone in your room for a whole week before you decided to go back to school. But… I also knew how much the whole class tried to reach you, most only after I announced as Ladybug that you had nothing to do with what your father was doing, but some, like Nino and Chloé, even before then. They tried so hard! So, if you were alone, it was by your choice. Sure, Plagg might have been a soothing presence, but you weren’t out of options and Plagg isn’t the most therapy savvy kwami in the first place. But I was still feeling guilty so I waited to see you back in class. For the first time I hoped I was wrong about something. This something being not trusting you. But for that I needed to see you interact with actual people, not your bedsheets, so I waited. And the first thing you do once you return was join the Ladybug hate club.”

He felt a chill as he saw her expression of rage shift into one of ice-cold fury.

“I gave it time. I reasoned with myself that you were just lashing out for me having taken the miraculous. But then the things you started saying… How could I trust you after that? I couldn’t help but wonder just how worse it would have been if they’d known you were Chat Noir and you had a wider array of things to complain about. Things that I’d told you in confidence. I’ve had to listen to you complain about me every single day in class! And trust me, out of the two of us, I’m probably the one with more reasons to complain.”

That lit a fire of indignation in him. What did she possibly have to complain about? She wasn’t the one being constantly being hit by the akumas’ powers. She wasn’t the one dying. She wasn’t the one who had secrets being withheld from her. What did she know?!

“Now that is just plain bullshit!” He shot out and, before he could add more, she interrupted him.

“BULLSHIT!? Really!? So, you think I don’t have legitimate reasons to be unsatisfied with you! Want to put that to the test?”

Adrien looked back at her with a determination. He was completely certain that he’d done his best and she didn’t actually have any reason to complain.

“Well, then. Let’s get this started, then. How about your insistent flirting? Let’s start with that, shall we? I’ll admit at first I thought it was just a part of your personality. There are people who are naturally flirty. And the fact that I wasn’t the only person you flirted with only served to support my hypothesis. And I could have dealt with that if it weren’t for two things: One, you decided to do it at the most inappropriate times, like during Dark Cupid where you got hit by his arrow because instead of paying attention to the battle you decided that distracting me and accosting me was the best possible action you could take at that moment! And it wasn’t a one-time thing either! And two, the fact that, at least when directed at me, it wasn’t just flirting and you also had feelings attached to it. Now, once again, usually that’s not a problem by itself, but you then decided to make it all about your feelings rather than what was needed! Like when you decided to feel hurt that I couldn’t hang out with you right before Glaciator when I already had plans and had told you so beforehand! I didn’t even know you felt that way for real until you told civilian me about it. I just thought you were a flirt because you did it with literally every girl! Remember the first time you met Rena Rouge? That was Alya! Who had a boyfriend at that! Do you know how uncomfortable it was to see you flirting with her while knowing full well she had Nino? It was very uncomfortable and I only allowed it because I still believed it was just a character trait. And this is not counting the harassment!” She stated. “Do you need me to count how many times you went for a kiss, even after knowing I already liked someone and wasn’t interested? Why were you even doing that, did you really have so little respect for me as a person?”

Okay, perhaps she _did_ have things to criticize him about. 

“I… yeah that was pretty bad but in my defense all I had to learn romance from was the internet and manga.”

“That maybe so, but it doesn’t justify continuing the behavior after I called you out on it.” She stated, not at all swayed. “Then there were the tantrums. Paris was flooded and you threw a tantrum because I didn’t tell you about Master Fu. News flash, buster! He wasn’t my secret to tell. I wouldn’t have even known about him in the first place if Lila hadn’t stollen that miraculous book from you and Tikki insisted on me taking it to him after she tossed it in the trash.”

“Excuse me! WHAT!?” He blurted out. Was that what had happened?

“No, you are not excused! That was the only reason I even found out about him. You know what happened when Tikki got sick and needed his help before that happened? I had to take her there and I didn’t understand what was going on and was just desperate to get her healed after finally saving her from Chloé’s grasp and then Rose got akumatized and I had more important things to think about. Were it not for that, I would have realized something was not right there. It was only after the battle that I really thought it over but ultimately decided not to pry. Meanwhile there you were, surrounded by _drowned_ people, which is much more serious than mind-controlled ones, and you decided to pout about not having all the information and act as if it’s my fault. like I’m somehow the one that decided it had to be kept a secret from you!” She shouted before she forced herself to calm down. “I’m sorry you felt like you were being left out, Adrien. But the world doesn’t revolve neither around you nor around me. Despite the pedestal you placed me in as Ladybug, I don’t actually have control over every single aspect in our partnership. Especially not back then. The guardian asked me to keep him a secret and that’s what I did. _It wasn’t my secret to tell._ But this is not what was worse!” Her expression shifted again. “I had already felt that was bad, but I had justified it to myself despite it all. I still didn’t know you could be selfish enough to to actually contemplate giving up your miraculous just because of hurt feelings until after I took Plagg from you! _There were dead people all over Paris, Adrien!_ Do you still think I have no possible justified complaints about you, Adrien? Because most of the things I heard from you was: how harsh I was with Chloé, despite me having let her keep the Bee miraculous even after she proved to the whole world she had no respect for what having these powers entailed, only taking it away when she cost us Master Fu; how cold hearted I was for not giving Chat Noir a chance, which I think I already detailed enough today; being harsh on Lila, even when she wasn’t the one akumatized, despite the fact that she was purposefully making things harder, and don’t you try to bullshit me otherwise; how I should have given the former temporary heroes a different miraculous after they were revealed, despite the fact that it was a risky move regardless; how the temporary heroes should have been permanent ones, despite the fact that some of them were repeat akumatizations; just to name a few. Come on, Adrien. Even if you had to keep your Identity as Chat Noir a secret, I’m sure you could still have found legitimate reasons to diss me instead of me sinking your favorite ship, me not wanting to be kind to bullies, and me wanting to keep the miraculous safe. Because I’m not perfect. I know I have failed at times. I know there were times that I wasn’t as professional as I should have been. I don’t understand why you didn’t criticize those. At least those were valid.”

Adrien, for the very first time since he started his small rant in the classroom, felt shame. Granted, he’d never expected for his Lady to actually be right there. It was supposed to be a cathartic thing for him. He really didn’t like to have it tossed in his face when she’d been the one to leave without a word. And it wasn’t like she was being any better at ‘dissing’ either.

He must have mumbled it under his breath because suddenly his Lady was glaring at him.

“Yeah, I already told you why I took the miraculous and I did admit it might not have been the best action, but it was the only one I could take. As for me ‘dissing’ you. I believe it’s very different to bad talk someone over minor, petty things in a very public way just because I feel angry and want to lash out and telling you your legitimate failings in private to avoid humiliating you in front of a whole group of people.” She said through gritted teeth before she forced herself to calm down and continued with a blank expression. “I told you from the start that you wouldn’t like the truth. You came here expecting a teary apology, but I never had one for you from the start. And it would have been very hypocritical of you to expect one from me when you abandoned me in my lowest moment and I never got one from you.”

“That’s different! You know it is!” Adrien interjected feeling angry again.

“Sure, I didn’t find out my parents were supervillains like you, but I was abandoned by almost everyone that I cared about. And the people who didn’t abandon me were busy. Like actually busy, not like you who practically pretended I didn’t exist if it wasn’t convenient for you because Lila was there and would snitch to your father. Unlike you, who had people wanting to be there for you but you decided instead it was better to sulk in your room alone, I was left with no support system to speak of aside from the kwamis who haven’t been in contact with humans for a while now and aren’t as well versed in how to comfort human teenage girls. But they tried and it was still more effort in a friend than you will ever be capable off, Adrien.” She said, remaining serene despite his anger. “Simply put. I’m not sorry for taking it away. And you can’t make me feel sorry for it just because your feelings got hurt. It might have worked back when I still thought that if I did enough for other people then maybe they might actually start liking me for me, back before Lila proved that martyrizing myself for others didn’t make me liked, just convenient, and how easy it was to rip everyone away from me when the feelings weren’t genuine on their part. But the Marinette in front of you is done with all of that. Loneliness does some weird things to social people, Adrien. And me? I was forced to grow up faster because of it.” She said, and then broke her serene façade by adding sarcastically. “As if being Ladybug hadn’t already forced me to grow up enough already.”

Adrien was speechless. He was in a flux of emotions he didn’t really understand. He felt the immediate anger and indignation and shame. But he also felt a sadness he didn’t comprehend. He just wished things could be simple again. Like when he still hadn’t figured out who his La-… who _Ladybug_ was.

As if reading him, Marinette finally spoke again in a resigned tone.

“Of course, it’s not too late to dismiss me as a bitch again. I’m used to it. Forget all I’ve told you. I won’t be here much longer anyway.”

That snapped him out of his shock.

“Wait? What?!”

“I have nothing left here in Paris. Why would I stay in the place where my worst memories reside?” Marinette stated calmly. “That and my identity was compromised.”

“WHAT!?”

“Batman found out my identity.”

“But… he’s a good guy, right?”

“Sure. A _‘good’_ guy.”

“What does that mean?”

“I went to his civilian identity not knowing who he was. I wanted his help dealing with Lila before she completely ruined our classmates’ futures for good. He was my last shot at avoiding their total ruination. He knew I was Ladybug and expressed his distaste in my inability as dealing with a mere liar, especially after we took down Hawkmoth. He implied he was considering adding me to his team but me asking him for help changed his mind. And I came to the realization that if he was that callous towards a group of innocent kids, then he was the last person I wanted to associate with. I also came to the realization that if I want to ensure the safety of the Miraculous, I’ll need to hide better than I have so far. Marinette Dupain-Cheng needs to disappear for the most part. I’m not giving up my fashion design company and I’ll make sure there are periodic sightings of me regarding that to throw anyone trying to track me down off, but I’ll mostly be living as someone else from then on.”

“That’s… pretty detailed. Why are you telling me all this?” He asked hesitatingly. The real question was why was she trusting him with this now. And she must have known.

“Because you were a good hero and partner despite your many failings in and out of the mask. You weren’t great, but you were good. I can’t trust you as a holder anymore. I’m the Guardian and my most important duty is making sure the Miraculous are safe and aren’t misused. But the part of me that was just Ladybug still remembers the good actions you did as Chat Noir, even if the Marinette part of me just wants to kick Adrien out of her room and never see him again. Batman likely knows your identity too. If he knows mine, he knows yours. It is unlikely that he’ll approach you to add you as a hero to either the League of Justice or his team, considering his reaction to me, but I want you forewarned just in case.”

“Are… you going to tell me who he is?”

She looked uncertain.

“I’m not sure just how much I can get away with telling you before pissing him off enough that I’ll have to rush my plans instead of waiting for school to end. He is known as the greatest detective and while he willingly revealed himself to me, never did the subject of Chat Noir get mentioned in our conversation. If he has no intention of even getting near you and finds out I told you… I don’t know. I used to think he wouldn’t be the sort to allow what Lila is doing to our classmates but, _clearly_ , I was wrong so, unless I have factual evidence that he won’t do anything that I fear, I’m going to consider it a possibility. So, all I’m going to tell you is to beware of Gotham billionaire playboys in their forties at this moment in time. Especial if they are known serial adopters.”

“That… actually narrows it a lot.”

“I know.”

“And… don’t worry so much about our classmates. Even with the setbacks from Lila’s lies I’m sure they’ll make it through.” He stated, wanting to both reassure her and also let her know she was being ridiculous.

The look she sent him was so derisive and full of doubt that he felt a bit offended.

“You are still looking at the world through rose-tinted lenses, even after finding out Hawkmoth is your father. At this point I can’t help but wonder if this is due to an actual condition or if I really have become that much apart from what a normal teenager thinks like without realizing it.” She stated, deadpan. “Look, just… as a last favor to me as Marinette to at least starting to make up for the bullshit you pulled on me, just promise me this: I want you to watch over them all. I know you don’t think anything bad is going to happen to them, but I know better than that. When you reach the conclusion that one of them really has their life screwed over, I want you to contact Luka or Kagami. They’ll have my contact and will inform me about it. I’m setting up several backup plans for the worst-case scenario. A safety net, so to speak. You are as much responsible for the outcome of their lives as I am. It was your advice I followed. If I really am wrong about all of this, and no one needs my help, then you can hold it as an ‘I told you so over my head’.”

“You… really believe that Lila’s lies are _that_ bad, huh?” He asked, noticing just how Ladybug-like Marinette had looked at that moment. How could he have missed it before?

“I do.”

“Ok. I’ll do it.”

Marinette nodded, looked like she was about to tell him to leave and then hesitated. She turned towards him again with an equally as serious expression.

“One more thing. Kagami is my friend. I personally think she deserves better than you. She deserves someone willing to stand by her side and fight for her just as fiercely as she fights for them. But you’re who she wants. Do not break her heart. Her heart is not as tough as she looks from the outside.” She said and then added. “Ah don’t take any drinks from Lila during the party. And make sure you tell Nino not to let you leave the with anyone other than him. If need be, tell him you don’t want to make a mistake after getting drunk for the first time.”

“But… why?” He asked confused.

“Lila… she’s desperate to get you. Especially now as the school is ending and she won’t have as many chances as before. I know because Kagami has been the one dealing with smothering all the rumors that Lila is creating hinting as you secretly dating her instead of Kagami. And I would bet you anything that Lila is going to try something during the party. You don’t have to believe me. You just have to make sure you tell Nino this. Perhaps even your bodyguard too, just in case. It may be paranoic of me, but I would like to think I can at least prevent her from ruining your life as it is now.”

He still didn’t know what she meant with that, but agreed to her request. She hadn’t asked much. He wasn’t really looking to drink alcohol during the party, even he could now do it legally, but there was no reason to deny such a minor request.

With that she finally bid him goodbye and kicked him out. He descended from her room only to come face to face with her parents that had a look of shock. Had they been listening in on them? He wasn’t sure. He already had a lot to think about and couldn’t spare them any further thought. He waved them goodbye and left. It wasn’t until he’d gotten home that he realized he’d forgotten to warn Marinette that her parent might know, but he didn’t have her phone number so it was too late.

Instead he decided to focus on what the revelations today made him feel. The initial feelings of anger and shame were gone now. They were more a kneejerk reaction, a defense mechanism, than his actual feelings on the subject.

For the first time he was actually faced with what he’d done to Marinette. He’d never bothered thinking about it before and because of that he’d lost her trust. Knowing that she was also Ladybug on top of that?... Knowing that his Lady had been outcasted and still tried her best at saving the city that turned their backs on her?... knowing he could have helped…

He could no longer blame her for what she did. Honestly? All things considered he probably would have done worse in her shoes. For as forgiving as he was, the moment someone crossed the line he showed just how many of his genes came from his father.

…

Perhaps she was right in the he could have decided to use the Wish himself if he was considering how much he had in common with his father.

Days went by and finally the party started. Marinette was there, but mainly lurked away from anyone. He felt and urge to go talk to her, to make up for what he’d done. But he knew she wouldn’t accept it and decided to not step over her boundaries.

He had fun at the party. He didn’t know why Marinette told him to be careful with the drinks but still decided to not even so much as try the alcoholic ones.

He woke up next morning in his apartment with no recollection of what happened after a point. He’d been drugged. The Gorilla told him that Marinette had called him when she first noticed Adrien acting a bit groggy. He’d gotten there in time to see Lila trying to drag him somewhere, trying to leave the party, as he slurred that he needed to find Nino.

He… didn’t know how to deal with that. Was Lila really been about to do what Marinette thought she would? Could a girl even rape a drugged unconscious man? Wouldn’t the thing just… flop? 

It wasn’t until the Gorilla pointed it out that he realized the other implication. Was she really going to claim they slept together after a night of drinking? Claim that he cheated on Kagami with her?

He… He needed some time to think. And therapy like the Gorilla suggested.

That very same morning, as he tried to process what had just happened, Marinette was gone from the bakery as if she’d never been there so he didn’t even get a change to thank her when he dropped by later. He asked Kagami to relay it to her for him and she quickly agreed, adding her own thanks.

Though he’d only heard Kagami’s side of the conversation, he could still tell a Classic Marinette nº 12 was happening. The one where she modestly tells the interloper that it was nothing and that she only did what was right. Deep down, Marinette was still there, even under so much cynicism and sass.

That was enough for him for now. Maybe someday he could redeem himself in her eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it ^w^


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